9 quick questions for john slattery | members only access


9 quick questions for john slattery | members only access

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Veteran actor John Slattery, 60, is most recognized as Roger Sterling from the popular TV series _Mad Men_, a role that earned him four Emmy nominations_. _But his impressive career also


includes turns on the big screen in blockbuster Marvel movies such as _Avengers: Endgame_, the Broadway shows _Rabbit Hole_ and _The Front Page _and additional small screen hits including


ABC’s_ Desperate Housewives_ and HBO’s _Veep._ Slattery’s latest TV role is on the Paramount + hit series, _The Good Fight._ YOU JOINED _THE GOOD FIGHT_ IN ITS SIXTH (AND FINAL) SEASON. WHAT


WAS IT LIKE BEING A NEWCOMER ON THE SET? All the actors know the drill. They know their characters so well that it gives you a leg up on just being reactive. Most of my scenes are with


Christine Baranski, who’s obviously great, and she also has been playing this character for 13 years in two different shows [_The Good Fight _was a spinoff of CBS’s _The Good Wife_] … so


I'm trying to figure out who I’m playing. As they used to say in acting class, “Leave yourself alone, and pay attention to the other person.” React and listen and react and talk. And


then you kind of develop a rapport. HAD YOU WORKED WITH CHRISTINE PRIOR TO _THE GOOD FIGHT_? No. We have met, and we have a lot of mutual friends and experiences because we’ve both done a


lot of theater and lived in New York for a long time, so we had tons to chat about in between takes in the beginning and kind of get to know each other. She is just also a warm and welcoming


person. All that helps, because first days, first weeks, you’re just a little unsure. YOU ALSO RECENTLY WORKED WITH YOUR _MAD MEN _COLLEAGUE JON HAMM IN THE _CONFESS, FLETCH _MOVIE [A


SEQUEL TO THE 1985 ORIGINAL STARRING CHEVY CHASE]. HOW WAS THAT REUNION? Very fun. We see each other from time to time. He’s very busy obviously. It was brief. We shot in Massachusetts,


which is where I’m from, so that was very fun. We got to shoot those scenes and have dinner and hang out for a little bit. HOW IS HAMM’S FLETCH CHARACTER DIFFERENT FROM CHASE’S? I didn’t go


back and watch the original as any reference or anything because I knew that was the last thing they’d want to do was kind of a copycat. Hats off to Chevy Chase for being one of the great


comedians, but his style was his own. That was what made him so funny and original, on _SNL_ [_Saturday Night Live_] and forward. He had a thing that no one else had. So [Hamm’s Fletch]_ _is


Jon Hamm style — less slapstick and a little more underplayed, maybe drier. It’s an interesting tone. Tone is always the hardest thing to find in a movie.  John Slattery played ad executive


Roger Sterling alongside Jon Hamm in the hit show "Mad Men." Photo: Justina Mintz/AMC; Courtesy: Everett Collection YOU TURNED 60 BACK IN AUGUST. ANY PARTIES? I had a little


thing. HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THAT NUMBER? It’s sort of mixed. Look, I’m glad to be healthy and alive, and I have a great life. I’m just not sure. Sixty made more of an impact than 50 or


40, and those are milestones, too. People have trouble with their 40th and their 50th, [but] those didn't bother me. This one gave me a little bit of a pause. I woke up and thought, “In


20 years I'll be 80.” It definitely started me thinking.